Sorry to post another question so soon but found it so helpful last time! Just wondered if anyone has any experience with Buffs...both the high UV protection one for hot weather and the 'Typhoon' buff for cold weather? I need headgear for both extremes and need lightweight so wondered if these were the answer. Otherwise any suggestions on the best really warm lightweight beanie type hat? Many thanks yet again!

OMG


Get out your Garlic, arm yourselves with crosses, fill your guns with silver bullets,

Doople has just awoken the living dead - beware of Darren, the Buff slaying vampire!!

Ah, but Darren is off walking across Scotland. Plenty of time for folk to post about how good they are ;)

My 2p's worth.....

no, no, no, no, no, no.... Buffs are just wrong!!!!!

I have a light weight buff and have found it very useful, the website has a video showing lots of different ways to wear one.

It is one of those personal things some people love ‘em some hate ‘em.

I have to declare my hand and say that I like Buffs EVEN THOUGH THEY DO MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE AN ESCAPED PIRATE WHO'S BEEN IN THE FANCY DRESS BOX!

If you really don't care what you look like then the standard Buff (of which I have several) is a really useful bit of cloth. I use them as hats, sweatbands, keeping the sun off my neck, cleaning sunglasses, padding, strapping... they're virtually indestructible and despite what people say about the price pretty good value if you use them.

The cheese factor is something you're either mature, worldy-wise, and let's face it: arrogant and selfish enough to live with or you're just one of those woolly liberals that considers other peoples' sensibilities should take precedence over practicality and comfort.

The ordinary Buff gives quite enough UV protection without having to buy a special one - in cold weather you can just wear two of them, or a standard hat if you want to keep your friends.

And Aldi/Lidl ones are a quarter of the price.
A Buff's only a trademarked tube of fabric really.

My mate Ian G bought one some time ago. I took the piss and ribbed him endlessly saying that "Buffs were for Puffs". Unfortunately for me, not long after the piss-taking started I started to see the benefit of said head-gear. Given my mockery of the Buff I just couldn't bring myself to purchase. Until that is after this Easter...... I hate wearing hats when walking (they make my head sweat so much) and after a long Lakes 3000's training walk (under hot sun) the top of my head (I confess to being a bit thin on top) had become a bit lobster like. I realised that it was time to bite the bullet and the decision was made. And so it was, the evening before the Lakes 3000s on 27th April that I ventured into Gaynor sports and purchased the protective headgear that I had secretly craved. I kept it quiet of course and it did cause some hilarity when Ian returned to camp at Seathwaite to find me with my head wrapped in my proud new purchase! It did the job perfectly - kept my head warm on Skiddaw and kept the sun off on High Raise! Brilliant to cool you down when dipped in water before putting on! I'm a convert.

Hey Oot, he may be "haunting" the Highlands at the moment, but are you sure he wont track down the "unfortunates" who praise Buffs?

Is Marcus now on borrowed time??

wouldn't any old piece of cloth do the same job? s'pose it depends if you like brand names and stuff.

It would be good if any old piece of cloth DID do the same job but sadly knotted hankies, bits of your sister's tights and old nylon y-fronts simply aren't as good! (Although they may look a bit more sensible)

Tony I've been on borrowed time since 1967! ;-)

Personally, I'm waiting for the new "Kate Moss" buff to come out (although I've heard it will only fit size zero heads so that's us big-bonces out).

Maybe Lily Savage or whatever her name is will do a frumpier version we can all wear though.

Definite vote for buffs here too. I find them pretty indespensible, ideal for under the cycle helmet on throughout winter, simarly keep the chill off the neck too, and the sun away in summer, plus cleaning sunglasses etc.
Sure might seem silly money, but they do last well.

Excellent things. Both the summer & winter ones. Been using them since January. They have all the good points of balaclavas or fleece neck gaiters with none of the bad ones ('cept they can get a bit smelly after a weeks use when you have no water to rinse them through)
I've used them on the piste, ski-touring & backpacking - normally around the neck & pulled up around the mouth/nose in wild weather & in conjunction with a hat. Suprisingly effective. You can get cheaper alternatives - Backpacking-light had an alternative at the BPC/TGO event - far cheaper.
Don't worry about what Weird Darren thinks!

Buffs are ridiculously expensive in the UK, and if you convert the Euro-price in Spain (country of origin) you'll find they sell for almost half the price there. I don't like that kind of mark-up, so I bought my first Buff in Spain. I could have saved even that small expense, as I've since accumulated three more 'free' Buffs. Two came with a purchase of OS maps at The Outdoors Show, and the other was courtesy of the Backpackers Club at Bellingham. The OS ones couldn't be worn without overtly displaying the OS logo, so I spent a happy hour with a black laundry marker to convert them into non-branded Buffs. (I'm not anti-OS. I tend to remove brand names from most things. The Backpackers one remains unchanged.)

The famous Buff video, which I always found a really slick presentation, shows you how to wear one, but I defy anyone to keep up with the 'presenter', whose speed and Buff manipulation defies belief. I now know there were several versions left lying on the video-editing room floor, some of which are now available for public embarrassment! At one point in the video the words - "for the ladies doing their make-up, it's an alice band" - are clearly heard. To this bit, using your imagination in lieu of a video, you could add - "or a boob tube or a mini-skirt" - but that all depends on the 'lady' coz Buffs only stretch so far!

If you think Buffs look daft, then don't wear one around town or when you're hanging out with your mates. Use it where no-one knows you, or somewhere off the beaten track. They have a multitude of uses. Then again, with Pirates of the Carribean due to be screened, you can simply blend in with the Johnny Depp lookalikes in due course.

Knotted hankies aren't the same as Buffs. Knotted hankies aren't tubes and can't be manipulated the same way as a Buff.

I wouldn't normally go on at such length about Buffs, but as has already been noted, Darren is away!

I had no idea......!!!!!!!

And you can have many happy hours learning the difference between a Sahariane and a Foulard - here.

Mark my words, there will be tears, some of you are going to be needing the assistance of Van Helsing if you keep this up!


;))))

Tony - no worries - the plan is to hit the "report this thread to the moderator" before Darren gets back from the TGO Challenge. With a bit of luck it'll be deleted before he gets home!

Buffs are the light in my darkness.

Gosh! What a lot of fuss about Buffs. Let's not get started on war in the Middle East eh?
For me the benefits of the buff are as follows:

It is genuinely windproof

It is versatile - I can use it as a hat, sweatband, balaclava, handkerchief, pot grab etc.

It weighs virtually nothing.

Love your Buff!

Regards

Jake